Janurary 19th - 6:15pm

Overcast morning with scattered light showers. Started my day helping Rodrigo with two of the young ones on the line and ended up running inside for a jacket of all things. Quite chilly and windy as we started off the morning. Afterward I hopped on Montana and Invasor for their trot abouts then longed Kir Royal before starting on the auction horses. With Martin headed out to Flordia for a week we wanted to get some filming done so he could put some videos together while traveling. So we took video of almost all the auction horses over fences. I warmed up Bellini a bit before Martin got on to jump. Then warmed up and jumped Nacar, Uxmal, Casia and Quantum. It was a mix between some really terrible riding on my part and some that felt reallyreally good. I've jumped Nacar a decent amount so know him. Hardest part about him is that his stride just eats up the lines. I struggle to get him on his hinds so that we don't just canter down the line and jump flat. Just don't consistently get the hand/leg connection right so that we can jump out with power and enough room. Uxmal was good to ride and showed me just a hint of how powerful he can be. Took a lot to just stay with him and out of his way over a decently sizeable fence. He and Nacar did a meter or so (maybe a bit higher for Uxmal). After was Quantum who I rarely ride and have never jumped. He has got to be one of the most powerful horses I have ever jumped. Ever. Had a tricky time with managing his greenness and getting him to the fences how he needed to be ridden. But once he was there, wow. When the jumps were low I didn't have much trouble with his power but as the oxer reached a meter, I was getting tossed onto his neck by the force of his hinds. Such a freaking nice horse. Casia afterward was a totally different ride. Still powerful over the fences but more sensitive to the fences and easier to stay with. She's ended up being one that I quite like riding actually. Wrapped up the riding by taping Martin on Orly.
Overall a busy day with interesting weather but a good and productive one never the less. Camilla invited me to spend the weekend at her house so we're headed that way. Super excited to meet her boyfriend and friends as well as get away from the barn for a bit!